A PhD student helped to lead a campaign to get Canadian graduate students and postdocs their biggest pay rise in 20 years. On 16 April 2024, Kaitlin Kharas was one of a select few people ushered into an office across the street from the Canadian Parliament and given a sneak peek at the latest budget. […]
Canada
Canada should sharply curtail research collaborations with China, lawmakers say
Report recommends an immediate ban on joint projects in a host of sensitive fields. Canada should immediately end all government-funded research collaborations with China in a host of sensitive technology areas, a parliamentary committee has recommended in a new report. The ban is needed, the panel said, to counter the Chinese government’s “increasingly assertive” efforts […]
Researchers rejoice: the Canadian Common CV’s days are numbered
New narrative CV to be rolled out to all tri-agencies’ grant competitions. Researchers applying for grants from Canada’s three main federal funding agencies will soon have cause for celebration: the unpopular Canadian Common CV is being phased out in favour of a new narrative CV. Read more in University Affairs.
Canadian science gets biggest boost to PhD and postdoc pay in 20 years
Government budget includes more money for basic research and notable increases to postgraduate stipends. Researchers in Canada got most of what they were hoping for in the country’s 2024 federal budget, with a big boost in postgraduate pay and more funding for research and scientific infrastructure. Read more in Nature.
Universities welcome clarity on national security rules
New policy includes lists of sensitive research areas and foreign institutions considered national security risks. After much uncertainty and multiple delays over the past year, university administrators are welcoming the clarity provided by a new federal policy on research security. “I don’t love this kind of thing, but if we had to have something because […]
Who is reviewing the reviewers?
The CIHR Review Quality Assurance process reveals vast majority of grant reviewers are doing a good job. One-third of peer reviewers for the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR) submitted outstanding reviews, while no more than one in 20 did not perform adequately, according to an analysis of the first three years of the funder’s […]
Why is nitroglycerin in short supply in Canada?
Canada is experiencing an acute shortage of nitroglycerin, forcing emergency measures. But with drug manufacturing being international, will it be the only country to suffer? Patients with coronary artery disease in Canada have been facing months of shortages of the nitroglycerin drugs used to treat angina pain, forcing government regulators to extend the expiry dates […]
A new era of research security
National security agencies are taking a renewed interest in universities and their research in the face of rising geopolitical concerns. Canada is home to a great deal of world-class research, but the federal government and its security services are raising the alarm that the country’s combination of advanced technology, human talent and democratic society has […]
Why are the Canadian wildfires so bad this year?
Hot, dry weather and human carelessness have led to a huge burnt area — and to choking haze affecting millions of people. Smoke from wildfires raging in eastern Canada has been filling lungs and turning skies orange across the northeastern United States, most dramatically in New York City and the surrounding area, for the past […]
Canadian PhD students and postgrads plan mass walkout over low pay
Academics are demanding a significant boost to government-sponsored fellowships and scholarships, which haven’t changed for decades. Graduate students and postdoctoral researchers at dozens of universities and research institutions across Canada are planning to walk out on 1 May in protest at government-funded salaries that have remained flat since 2003. Read more in Nature.